Investing.com - Gold futures dropped on Friday after official data revealing a healthy uptick in U.S. hiring bolstered demand for the dollar, which trades inversely with the yellow metal.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery were down 1.35% at $1,191.40, up from a session low of $1,186.80 and off a high of $1,207.70.
The February contract settled down 0.08% at $1,207.70 on Thursday.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,141.70 a troy ounce, Monday's low, and resistance at $1,215.00, Wednesday's high.
The Labor Department reported earlier that the U.S. economy added 321,000 jobs in November, well past expectations for a 225,000 reading. October's figure was revised up to 243,000 from a previously estimated 214,000, pointing to underlying strength in the labor market.
The U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.8% last month, in line with expectations, and the numbers fueled expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in 2015, possibly earlier than once anticipated.
A separate report showed that the U.S. trade deficit hit $43.40 billion in October, down from $43.60 billion in September, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of $43.00 billion. Analysts had expected the trade deficit to narrow to $41.20 billion in October.
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery was down 1.64% at $16.303 a troy ounce, while copper futures for March delivery were down 0.20% at $2.909 a pound.